I am looking to make a trip in mid-march for a week or so to the Fort Lauderdale Area solely for diving. After reading around on the forums, I am interested in diving with the Underwater Explorers out of Boynton Beach. As a novice diver traveling alone, I have some questions. Will the fact that I will be making this trip alone make things difficult? Will most people generally already have a dive buddy or already plan on diving alone without the desire to become a beginner's dive buddy. Also, anyone that has experience diving with underwater explorers know if there is any difference between weekday and weekend diving as far as dive sites and the number of people goes. Lastly, are there any 6 dive or other package deals that underwater explorers offer?
Questions Regarding South Florida Diving
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johngayle
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---------- Post added January 11th, 2015 at 11:43 PM ----------
I live in boynton beach and have dove many times with Kevin of Underwater Explorers. His boat and dive sites are really meant for highly experienced advanced divers. As there is no divemaster or any one to help the inexperienced it is independent diving. Most trips are photo or hunting trips. I might suggest Starfish enterprises, Splashdown divers or Loggerhead divers instead
sportxlh
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One other suggestion: when I got back into diving 5 years ago, most of my early non-Keys, deep dives were with the Scuba Club in WPB, which is only 15 minutes north of Boynton. They usually throw a couple of dive guides in the water and are pretty attentive to new divers. Unfortunately, they do a ton of one tank dives, which I don't like so I hardly ever dive with them anymore outside of an occasional Friday afternoon two tank dive when I can scoot out of work early (one of the few regularly scheduled Friday afternoon dives in the area).
If you decide to stay in Boynton, I think you can hire a guide with Underwater Explorers or any of the other operators noted by johngayle. Personally, I've been out with UE and Splashdown and had very good experiences on both boats. It might be worth it to hire a guide for your first few dives until you're comfortable at depth.
If you decide to stay in Boynton, I think you can hire a guide with Underwater Explorers or any of the other operators noted by johngayle. Personally, I've been out with UE and Splashdown and had very good experiences on both boats. It might be worth it to hire a guide for your first few dives until you're comfortable at depth.
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None of the operators in Boynton Harbor Marina routinely put a DM/guide in the water. I would not characterize UE as exclusively for more experienced divers and the Explorer is the only boat with 6 divers, all the others take considerably more. Sounds like the OP may benefit from tagging along with another group or hiring a guide. I would suggest contacting Kevin Metz with questions regarding UE, kevin@diveboyntonbeach.com
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Sandra and I have been diving on Splashdown every sunday for several months now, weather dependant of course...
Normally, they have both Woody and Larry as crew on the boat, and normally either one or both are in the water as Dive Guides, that obviously can and would help a diver that needed help.
The diving in Boynton is very easy diving...so it is a great place to start as a novice. That said, Splashdown is a boat that will take novices, and will try to get them mentored with good divers...it is NOT a boat that wants anything to do with LARGE GROUPS OF NOVICES right out of OW1....Splashdown does not cater to instructors with the big gaggles of students that would impair the dive experiences of real divers, by drastically limiting dive sites or time on each dive .
The OP would get buddied up to someone on the boat, no problem.
Thank you for the info and the heads up regarding Underwater Explorers and diving around Boynton Beach in general. Looking into Underwater Explorers had me thinking some of the diving might be outside my skill/comfort level. I'm glad I referenced the expertise on scubaboard otherwise I wouldn't have known that dive guides are not usually on dives with these dive ops. If I do end up going to Bonyton Beach or WPB I will look into finding a dive guide.
robandliza
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Is Alex no longer with Kevin these days?
I try to dive with UE every time I am down in that area. Kevin is consistently the best in my opinion, and if he does have someone to hold the boat I'm sure he will happily guide you
I would suggest asking Kevin to get you AOW certified, or if you already have that then get Nitrox certified( I did with Kevin a few years ago) as you will get much more bottom time in the area than on air
As has been pointed out though, contact Kevin and ask him. He might look like an oversized Robinson Crusoe but he doesn't bite
I would also give a thumbs up to WPB and got lots of time for Pura Vida Divers and Jim Abernathy out of there
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